Benjamin K. Yew of Fort Lee is charged with computer-related theft, theft by deception, money laundering and abandonment/neglect of an elderly person.
Benjamin K. Yew (BCPO) FORT LEE - A Fort Lee man was arrested Friday and accused of stealing more than $500,000 from a senior citizen he knew in an assisted living facility, authorities said.
Benjamin K. Yew, 33, had been given power of attorney over the senior and gained access to the victim's investment account containing more than $900,000, Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal said in a statement.
Yew also gained access to the victim's personal checking account, which received monthly pension and Social Security deposits, Grewal said.
"With the victim's power of attorney, Mr. Yew assumed responsibility for the victim's care, which included making monthly payments to the senior living facility in which the victim resided," Grewal said.
Grewal did not disclose the nature of the relationship between Yew and the victim.
Yew, who authorities say is a preschool teacher, is charged with first-degree computer-related theft in excess of $250,000, theft by deception, money laundering and abandonment/neglect of an elderly person, the prosecutor said.
In March, the county prosecutor's White Collar Crimes Unit received a complaint that Yew used his position of trust to steal money from the victim's accounts, the prosecutor said.
"Between 2009 and 2016, Benjamin Yew transferred money from the victim's investment and checking accounts to his own personal bank account by check, via online banking transfers, and by making cash withdrawals and then depositing the cash into his account," Grewal said in a statement.
"Yew utilized the monies that were transferred into his account for his own personal purposes," the prosecutor alleged.
In all, more than $500,000 went missing.
"When the money in the investment fund was depleted, the victim's funds were insufficient to maintain the level of care the victim received on a monthly basis at the senior living facility," Grewal said.
Fort Lee police detectives arrested Yew at his home on Friday.
Yew was taken to the Bergen County Jail on $75,000 full bail pending an Aug. 10 hearing.
Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.